What Are the Test Partnership Assessments?
Test Partnership is an all-inclusive assessment company that supplies personality and aptitude tests to aid the selection process. These assessments are most commonly administered during the interview or recruitment process. They apply to every field and level of experience but occasionally vary in difficulty at the discretion of the administrator of the assessment.
Each test offered by Test Partnership is designed to assess a variety of qualities necessary for a particular role. Below are the series of assessments you may see during the hiring process.
Insights Suite of Ability
The Insights Suite of Ability is a preliminary measure developed specifically for minimizing the candidate pool. The Insights assessments are sent to candidates after the submission of an application and must be finished within a specified number of days. There is a total of fifty-one questions that can be narrowed into three respective sections. Each section has a time limit of fifteen minutes and covers the following subjects:
- Inductive Reasoning
The inductive reasoning section contains sixteen non-verbal questions. The test is structured to examine the candidate’s ability to identify patterns and use logic to solve novel problems. This is achieved by providing the candidate with five shapes in a sequence followed by five answer choices. The patterns are depicted by changes in shape, colour, positions, frequency, and more.
- Numerical Reasoning
The numerical reasoning segment appraises the candidate’s mathematical abilities. Given fifteen questions, candidates must analyze graphs and tables, then answer three to four follow-up questions. These questions require applicants to perform basic mathematical operations and interpret new data. The numerical reasoning section, like the others, is adaptive. An adaptive test means each question will be slightly more difficult than the one before; unless it is answered incorrectly, then it will be easier.
- Verbal Reasoning
The verbal reasoning portion of the Insights assessment surveys the candidate’s comprehension of foreign information and their ability to evaluate inferences. This section contains multiple passages paired with four to five subsequent questions. Candidates must choose from five different answer choices of “Definitely True”, “Probably True”, “Insufficient Information”, “Probably False”, and “Definitely False”. With a total of twenty questions, the verbal reasoning section is the longest part of the Insights assessments.
Concepts Suite of Ability
The Concepts Suite of Ability is higher stakes than the Insights Suite of Ability because it was developed for use in the later stages of the screening process. This means the difficulty of the test and the significance of the score increases greatly. There are two, twenty-four-minute sections in the Concepts Suite:
- Critical Thinking
The critical thinking section consists of twenty-four questions. It assesses the candidate’s evaluation of arguments regarding data and observations. The questions are structured around short passages followed by a simple statement. The candidate’s job is to inspect the statement, then measure the strength of the argument or it’s applicability to the provided information.
- Data Analysis
The data analysis part of the Concepts Suite of Ability assessment is a heightened version of the numerical reasoning test. It presents the candidate with a graph, table or chart along with a handful of follow-up questions. There is a total of twenty-four questions, each getting increasingly difficult as the test progresses. An understanding of basic math, data analysis, and ratios are a must.
Perceptions Situational Judgment Tests
The Perceptions Situational Judgment Tests are a series of behavioural assessments intended to appraise the values and character traits of candidates. Situational Judgment Tests, abbreviated as SJT, act as an assurance to companies that a particular candidate has the right personality for the job. An SJT will examine the candidate’s emotional intelligence which includes qualities such as communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.
Test Partnership’s SJT presents a series of hypothetical scenarios that simulate common workplace encounters. Subsequently, there will be a proposed action that the candidate must rate on a six-point scale. This scale ranks the effectiveness of the action from “Very Effective” to “Very Ineffective”. Due to varying levels of experience, Test Partnership offers four different versions of their SJT. These include:
- Administration
The administration version of the SJT is sixty questions. The scenarios provided were developed to assess the organization style and communication skills of the candidate above all else. A quality candidate for an administrative position will have exceptional people skills.
- Graduates
Due to a lack of workplace experience, the scenarios on the graduates’ version of the SJT will be slightly more general. With sixty-four questions, graduates must demonstrate high ambition, openness, and a desire to learn.
- Managers
Managers must answer sixty-eight SJT questions. While countless character traits go into the making of a great manager, companies weigh compliance and appeal the most. They are looking for a manager that can balance their responsibility to the company along with their responsibility to meet the needs of their team and coworkers.
- Sales
The sales SJT emphasizes client relations much more than the other versions of the assessment. There is a total of sixty questions that measure attributes such as self-discipline, attentiveness, and objectives.
How are the Test Partnership Assessments Scored?
Although Test Partnership offers a versatile selection of assessments, they are all scored identically. This particular scoring process compiles the results in a score report that includes a percentile, summary description, and a sten score.
The percentile score is measured on a scale from negative twenty to positive twenty. The percentile is meant to measure a candidate’s performance in comparison to their norm group. A norm group is a collection of thousands of scores from individuals at the same level and in the same field as you. So, for example, a candidate in the 78th percentile performed better than 78% of the people in their norm group which is the mean score.
A sten score is a condensed version of the percentile score. It sits on a scale that counts from one to ten with a mean of five. Each increment or decrement of one represents a ten-point shift in the standard deviation. Below is a table of what each sten score means:
| Score |
Meaning |
| 8-10 |
Very Strong |
| 7 |
Strong |
| 5-6 |
Average |
| 4 |
Weak |
| 1-3 |
Very Weak |
Finally, the summary description. A summary description is an interpretation of the candidate’s score broken down for the administrator of the assessment. It will examine a few specific subsets as well as the overall results. There will also be a few suggestions for how to construct the interview to assess every aspect of the candidate.
How Can I Prepare for the Test Partnership Assessments?
Test Partnership does their due diligence when they are creating their assessments which is why your preparation is imperative. It is important to note that the aptitude tests and behavioural tests require different preparation methods.
If you have an upcoming Insights or Concepts Suite of Ability assessment, you should begin by reviewing sample questions. Sample questions are a good resource for people looking to refresh their memories or acquaint themselves with the content. They allow you to focus on your thought process and your problem-solving approach which increases your accuracy.
Another beneficial tool is online practice assessments. These imitate the conditions of the test such as the material and the time limit. By practising with mock tests, you can become fully accustomed to the features of the assessment, and simultaneously track your progress. Additionally, using these practice tests will improve both your speed and accuracy.
Tips for Solving the Test Partnership Assessment Questions
Almost every assessment offered by Test Partnership has some sort of prerequisite except for the inductive reasoning. The inductive reasoning section of the Insights Suite of Ability doesn’t cover a subject that is taught in school like the numerical and verbal reasoning tests. Instead, the assessment relies on the candidate’s raw ability to discern logical sequences. If you think inductive reasoning is an area you may need some guidance in, refer to the following list of common non-verbal reasoning rules:
- Rotation
Rotation is the most common rule for non-verbal assessments. The rotations occur at 45° or 90° increments and can be demonstrated with the position or colour of the shape.
- Progression
The progression rule is portrayed as a growth in the size or shape of an object. It may help to think of it as a simple square gaining more vertices until finally, it’s an octagon. This type of rule will occur throughout multiple frames from left-to-right or vice versa.
- Frequency
Frequency can be an increase in the number of shapes in a frame or it can be expressed by the number of constant shapes in the matrix.
- Colour
A change in colour is usually indicated by lighter and darker shades rather than actual colours. The colours will either change or move throughout the frames. The colour rule is the easiest to detect.
